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Naxalism and the Maoist Insurgency in Bastar

Notes from a Hindi documentary by Abhinav Pande (News Pinch, 2026) that leans toward the government narrative and features officials and former cadres. Figures come from an auto-generated transcript and some are uncertain. Interviewee and creator claims are labelled as such.

Timeline​

  • 1967: the Naxalbari uprising in West Bengal; Charu Majumdar was the ideologue of armed struggle, with Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal
  • 1980: Kondapalli Seetharamaiah's group formed People's War in North Telangana and chose Dandakaranya (Bastar) as its rear base
  • Bastar: a single district until 1998 and roughly the size of Kerala; Chhattisgarh was formed in November 2000 with about 20-22k police
  • 1993: Tarem blast (11-12 killed)
  • 2005: Salwa Judum began (about June); in 2011 the Supreme Court ruled against arming civilians as Special Police Officers
  • 2010: Tadmetla ambush (76 CRPF personnel killed)
  • 2013: Jhiram Ghati attack (25 May) killed Congress leaders
  • 2025: Maoist Central Committee chief Basavaraju was killed in May with his protection company, and 18 Maoists were killed in an encounter on 3 Dec
  • 2026: Home Minister Amit Shah's deadline of 31 March for ending Left Wing Extremism; PIB/MHA figures quote 126 affected districts at the peak, down to 2 by March 2026, and the documentary states the deadline was met

Structure and Funding​

  • Central Committee and Politburo, then special zonal committees (Dandakaranya, AOB, North Telangana, MMC, Western Ghats), then divisional and area committees
  • PLGA Battalion No. 1 was the only full battalion (formed 2009 per the video)
  • Janatana Sarkar (revolutionary people's committees) covered 3-4 villages with 8 branches, a militia, jan adalat (people's courts) and levies
  • Funding: the tendu leaf levy was a main source (one area committee reportedly took ₹30 lakh a year, up to ₹1 crore by 2019, per an ex-cadre; uncertain), plus a ₹10 party fee per member

Government Response (Claimed)​

  • DRG (District Reserve Guard, a local force) described as the game changer; Operation Kagar
  • The Niyad Nella Naar scheme (50+ villages), 3,000+ surrenders and support payments to surrendered cadres, and nationalised tendu leaf buying (all as stated by the government side; amounts uncertain)

Claims by Interviewees and the Creator​

  • The creator says Maoism caused more harm than terrorism, and that adivasis were "caught between two guns"; he shows Hidma's village, Puvarti (Sukma), now with a school, anganwadi and road
  • Former cadres say they joined because of forest-guard harassment and poverty, and that 99% of Maoist automatic weapons were looted from security forces (rebutting a foreign-supply theory)
  • Locals allege fake encounters and arbitrary arrests of villagers, and fear that mining and corporate projects will follow ("only Naxalism saved the forest"); officials call this an opposition narrative
  • Closing commentary: tribal fears over land and forest after Naxalism ends